As Little As Death
by WistfulSin
Summary: I would not let her live her life in this ruined state. I was her brother, her son. She was my hero. We were the last Takanis, and I vowed to not let anything as little as death come between us. Oneshot. Kin's POV. HieixIruni


So, my song for this is Angel, by Nine Inch Nails, and basically any gut wrenching tune you can think of. This was really just to introduce Kin Jiro's mind and attitude to everyone who reads my stories, because if you've been reading The Balance of Chaos, you'll know his memory has been mentioned nearly every chapter. He's the younger brother, and practically the son, of my OC Amon-Shinpi. This was hard for me to write, but for some reason, it's the best way to introduce him that I could think of.

This was the only way I could think to show how much he was like his sister and how strong their bond was. They would literally have killed, died, or hung in limbo for one another, and his death was her breaking point when it came to life. But at the same time, I didn't want him only associated with being her dead brother in the story, I wanted everyone to realize he was a fighter, and a child at the same time. A bit immature, restless and very loyal and loving.

I'm planning on doing another One Shot with him, that is of a happier note, but I want it from his perspective again, so I have to pick a memory for him to view. This one shot actually gave me a really nice idea, also inspired by Shiningheart of Thunderclan, that may end up getting put into TBoC. Anyways, here it is. Kin's Dream.

* * *

My chin rested against my palm, my fingers tapping my cheek as I stared at the clear horizon. Sister had been gone nearly a week and still there were no clouds to tell me she was coming back. Hayato walked up behind me, nearly too quiet to hear, and looked out the same window.

"Be patient," he placed a hand on my shoulder.

There used to be a time when he would ruffle my hair to calm me, or soothe me, but I guess I was getting too old for that now. Sister still did it to me, which would never change, no matter how much I protested. I didn't really mind, but it was one of the only times we got to tease each other recently. She was always out with Hiro, patrolling or visiting the other territories. She used to only leave every once in a while. Now it seemed she was gone more than she was home. I could almost put myself into the ruling position and pretend she'd just left like Kuya.

Almost.

"Where do you think she's gone this time?" I asked, looking up at my guardian without moving my head. My black bangs hung a bit in my view, but I was getting used to that.

"I'm not sure. The Lord didn't tell me before he left." Just like Hai, even alone with someone he trusted he couldn't let the lie slip. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I had a dream last night," he looked down at me.

"What about?" he moved away and went back to studying his maps. He wanted to be one step ahead of everyone, at all times. Sister said he'd been that way ever since King Mukuro's army had killed our parents. This place was all he had left, since he'd never went out to get a family of his own. Sister didn't understand it, but she didn't see him when she wasn't there.

Hayato cared more about our welfare than we did ourselves sometimes. Once, Sister had come back wounded from a sparring match with Hiro and he'd fretted over her like she was dying. It was amazing that she couldn't see it, as wise as she was about most things. Hayato would die for her if she needed him to, but that was his secret, I guess.

"I dreamt that Hiro murdered a child," I slid off the window sill and walked across the tile to stand over the map of our territory. I used it to track the wolves, but they hadn't moved recently. Everything was settling in the ashes of our land's last tragedy. It was about time. I was too small to remember it, but Sister made me read what she'd written in the family book. It was an awful, bloody mess. The village had been repaired for a while but morale was just leveling off.

"Amon-Shinpi would never allow that." The response was automatic, his dark haired head bowed over something.

"She doesn't rule his spirit." I scoffed at him. "Besides, she didn't bring him back with her last time. She doesn't even talk about him now. Haven't you noticed?"

"Your sister trusts Hiro, and that means we should too. I have never seen her trust someone who wasn't worthy." I made a face and Hai sighed. "Shouldn't you be going through your techniques, Kin?"

"Why do you call me by my name and Sister by her title or full name?" I questioned.

"Because," he stopped and stood. "I'm your superior at this time, and I'd like to take advantage as long as I can before you get to be Lord, Kin."

"Lord Kin Jiro Takani," I grinned at the thought. "I can't wait."

"Be careful what you wish for," he warned. "Your sister always wanted to rule as well, she wanted to be the best fighter, the strongest guard. Now she's giving up what she wants most because of her wishes being granted."

"Oh, and what's that?" I rolled my eyes, moving to grab my staff from beside the door. He was right, I should be practicing while Sister was away so that when we sparred again I might actually prove how much I'd improved.

"You." I looked over my shoulder at our land's second in command. I had just realized that he'd said 'my sister' instead of 'Lord' or 'Amon-Shinpi' or even 'Ichi'. "You are the most important thing in this life to that woman. She would die to save you, to help you, to protect you. Your life means more to her than her own. And she's giving up watching you grow so that she can be sure you'll get the chance to become the leader of this place."

I looked down at my shoes, biting my lip. Sister would've hit me in the head, telling me to stop with such a bad habit.

"I miss her," I muttered.

"I know." He gave me a weak smile, and looked away. "Just be happy, Kin, that you still have her."

I was twirling my staff, ready to attack the bunch of imagined fighters that had surrounded me in my mind when I felt it. The shockwave of energy that nearly knocked me over. Immediately my body went on alert, looking for the danger, and another wave hit me, different this time. It tasted different to my senses, sharp and unfamiliar.

I didn't notice the clouds until Hayato was running across the grounds, battle gear on and his expression ready to kill. The sky was turning black at the edges, and the wind was cold, bitter. Angry.

"Sister." I whispered the word and took off running as well, Hai screamed at me to stop, to stay behind, so I fell back until he couldn't see me. My family was in trouble, and Ichi was all I had left. I pressed my legs to go as fast as they could, as fast as Sister could go, and to find her. The closer I got to the boundary of our land, the stronger the bitter tang of her blood filled the air.

Breaking through the trees, clearing the hot spring in a single jump, I landed on my knees. I'd been unprepared for this. My heart was tight, chest full suddenly. I couldn't breathe and my eyes were stinging.

My sister spit blood onto the hill of sand and it fell onto already red-stained grains. Her body was a wreck of cuts, bruises and blood. She wore no mask, and I noticed it dull and cracked against the sand away from her. Hayato was racing towards them and all I could do was watch. Hiro hit her again, sending her to her knees, and I saw more blood come from her mouth as she made to stand. Hayato didn't even get close before Hiro called on his element.

It was web of yellow tendrils of electricity, and he wore a sadistic smile as he pushed it around my sister's body. "This is my Binding Net of Lighting, how do you like the feel of your own ideas killing you?"

"Go to hell." She spit at him and he constricted it, making her scream as blood flew from every line that split open where the strings touched her.

"Sister!" I screamed, anger unlike anything I'd ever felt filling my body. My lungs suddenly couldn't keep up as I breathed raggedly, trying to keep my head even. Hiro turned to me and I stood, prepared to kill him. The malicious smile on his face, the straightness of his spine, it all fueled my fiery hatred. I saw my sister stare at me, her eyes begging something. He stopped his attack and began to walk towards me as she slumped to the ground, trying very hard to get back to her feet. I'd never seen her struggle to do anything.

"Touch him and die." Hayato was very suddenly blocking me from view, and I felt his aura crackling. "You will face me, you derelict, and you will die in my hands."

I stepped from behind Hai and glowered at him. He waved his hand and darts conjured themselves into the air, small cylinders of lightning. With a flick of his wrist they flew at Hai and we dove in opposite directions. Hiro immediately ran after my guardian, and I ran up towards my fallen sister in the desert.

My back was turned as I fell to my knees beside Amon-Shinpi, the sand around and beneath her the same startling color as her hair. I ran my hands over her face and it felt cold, and my palms got slicked with her blood. Tears filled my eyes, falling over my cheeks before I could stop them. I could hear Hai yelling in the background, and then Hiro, but the words were blurry.

"Run," her voice wasn't even bothering to hide, it was just weak and full of pain. I watched as her eyes opened, but it didn't seem like she knew she was awake really. Her hand lifted like she was trying to reach me and I held it, squeezing.

"I'm not leaving you in his hands." The tears on my face landed on hers, smearing through the blood and dirt. "Sister, please, you have to get up. You're too strong for this."

Her eyes were open but nothing seemed to be passing through her mind. The storm above us left the sky black and the wind howled as my anger mounted. Rising to my feet, I felt the world still.

"_Sometimes, when I fight Kin, its not like when we spar." She was standing, relaxed and comfortable, ready to teach. "It's like the world is waiting for my next move."_

_ She smiled at me and I smiled back. I might've only been seven, but I wanted to know that feeling. Like the world itself was eager for my next action or technique._

With all the body of a human eleven year old, I felt the cleanest connection with my element in my life. The wind wasn't just around me, but in me. It made my veins swell, made my vision sharper. I could _feel_ where it touched Hiro's body. I wondered if this was how Sister felt all the time.

"You don't impress or frighten me," I spoke, even though I knew he was behind me.

"That's because you were raised a fighter, just like she was." There was nothing in his tone to regard me with. It was like I was a speck of dirt in the air, and as long as I didn't get on his robe, he didn't care about me.

"Why are you doing this?" I turned over my shoulder and then fully around to face him. My blue clothes whipped around my arms in the wind.

"Because your sister owed me power," he smirked, and it was pure evil. "And her blood will give me that. Do you even realize what your body alone is capable of?"

"I realize enough." An eerie calm settled over me and the wind stopped moving. It was quiet, and looking passed the massive figure that was my sister's once-pupil, I saw a broken Hayato. "I realize that you were the only mistake my sister has made since my parents died. Her affection for you, I never approved of it."

He just nodded. Instantly he was flying at me, and I fell backwards landing in my sister's blood as she managed to get to her feet, the glaze still on her eyes. Rolling I escaped him before his foot could come down, crackling with his own energy. It landed beside my head. Flipping onto my feet I brought my staff up with me, slamming it into the side of his neck. She hit him from the other side and then stepped in front of me as his retaliation, a sharp bolt of electricity, fired from his fingertips. She once again spit blood and fell to her knees, then to her stomach as a second hit took her down.

His figure stooped and I stepped back, resituating myself into a fighting stance. He came at me, and this time, he stepped _on_ my sister's body to do it. Her eyes were still open, and I heard something snap as his weight landed on her back. My anger flared, the wind howled and I flew at him before he could blink this time. We tangled up in a fist fight. His arms blocked my barrage of hits, my arms blocked his. He landed a solid punch on my ear the moment I managed to shove my fist into his solar plexus.

My hand came back bloodier than before and I knew that I smiled. He staggered backwards, gasping and holding his front as he doubled over.

"Leave now, and never return, Hiro. Be a disgrace and live as outcast." I swallowed my more hateful words. If this kept going I would be the ruling Lord, I would have a territory to rule, and family to bury. This intruder was just a pest.

"No." he stood up and I flew backwards, landing on my back beside my broken sister as aftershocks reeled through my small body. My muscles clenched involuntarily. I hadn't known anyone to be able to cover their fists in something like electricity before. It hurt everything inside me, but I got back to my feet, and I suppressed the screams that clawed at the back of my throat. Amon-Shinpi blinked, her arms grabbing his ankle as she rose to her knees, sending him to his back. The same fist his her and she bellowed, trying to block me from his onslaught.

"You have no right to this place." I gritted my teeth and he hit me this time, and again I fell, this time only to my knees. "Leave."

She was on her feet again, her eyes dark as the black sky roiling above us. I'd never seen her fight so hard, or fall so quickly. His net was back around her before she could muster a kick, and she fell to her knees screaming again. He spoke over her, while she was trapped. For the first time I felt true fear grip my gut, and I wondered if I was going to get to see her again. Her eyes grew clear, then frenzied as she fought against her confines, tearing herself up in the process, but she was quiet again.

"Your sister did you no favors by teaching you to be like her." He kicked me and I fell, wanting to scream. Crawling to my knees I manage to stand again. "You're no fighter!"

He hit me again, but I managed to keep standing and I grabbed his arm. With all my rage, and all my pain, I called my element. I cried out with a feral scream and a cyclone encircled his arm from between my hands. His cry was much more satisfying, filled with pain, and he tried to pry himself away from me as his arm was pulled out of socket and nearly off his body.

"We are all each other have!" I cried out, the tears burning my skin now.

"You are both weak," his other hand grabbed one of my wrists, and I growled at him. "And you will die like she's about to."

I tried not to yell this time, but when he infused the wind with his lightning, it burned me. I couldn't help it. It shocked me when I hit the ground that my scream was just like my sister's before he'd let her go at first. Now she was mutely staring in rage and fear, something happening to her eyes I couldn't define. The Takani blue was draining into something else, something more violet in hue.

I wondered if I was bleeding, but couldn't feel it. The tears blocked my eyes from seeing him coming, but I got to my feet anyways. I had landed next to my sister again, and her eyes blinked this time. I knew she was alive, though the net kept her from moving now, and the tears fell harder.

"Weakness is being blind to what makes you fallible," I choked out, spitting blood onto the ground at his feet. "You will die because of your arrogance today."

"No," he drew his hand back, "You will."

The spear he made with his hand cut through me and I screamed out, my eyes too full of tears of pain and loss to see his face anymore. My body wanted to die, but I couldn't let it, not yet.

"It's a shame. I, wanted one of you to live to be at my side." His words followed me as I fell backwards, landing where I'd just picked myself up from. I felt like I was drowning, the sickening taste of copper dulling my other senses. My hand landed on something cool that seemed to be growing warmer, and I turned my head. I barely could make out the shape of my sister beside me and knew it was her hand under mine. Vaguely, I wondered why the bolts wracking her body didn't hurt me. Why I couldn't hear what her mouth was screaming.

I wanted to say so many things to her. That I was sorry I hadn't trained harder while she was gone, that I didn't run when she'd asked me to. I wanted to tell her that I loved her again, since we hadn't spoken since she'd left. That she was my life too. I wanted to say too much and didn't have the breaths left in me.

"Ichi," I choked out. "Don't…" I sputtered and coughed, and the dark chill of death was closing around me, "Don't go."

Something hot burned me and I didn't bother screaming, I couldn't manage it. I just let Hiro burn me however he was and hoped the fire didn't spread. I may have lost, but I didn't want my sister to lose everything when she woke up. And I knew she would. She was stronger than any of the rest of us had been. She deserved to have something to make it out of this fight to.

I couldn't tell if my eyes were closed or not, but I was surrounded by black, but there was a warmth in it now. I didn't feel the burn, or the pain, just warm. I let myself fall into that feeling.

* * *

"No." Ichi looked at the burned ruins that were her village, her land, and part of her castle. She looked at the blood under her and saw the burn marks to her side as well. "No. No, no no."

She screamed, and it was a pitiless sound that revealed everything. Her soul was broken, and as she screamed, it shattered completely. Grabbing her own hair, she pulled, still screaming, until blood started to come from her scalp. The tears came and flowed, mixing with the pouring of red, and she didn't bother trying to be strong. "NO!"

Falling back down she touched the burn marks next to her. Part of her remembered seeing her brother there, fighting. It was hazy, and she hadn't been sure. But she had smelt smoke. She remembered trying to stop him, remembered watching Kin fall here.

_"Ichi. Don't…Don't go."_

Her wail was wordless as the pain rolled over her.

"Oh gods, no. Not him. Not him. Please. Let this be hell." She closed her hand into a fist, bringing dirt with it.

I watched her do it, but I couldn't tell where I was. Just that I was watching her. "Sister…"

She didn't hear me and I knew I was dead and she wasn't. She cried again. "Kin!"

Even with her injuries I watched her get to her feet, stagger and then fall, just to get back up. I followed her to the village. Where Hayato had lain was just a stain of blood that was being washed as it started to rain. I wondered if he'd gotten up too, but didn't dwell on it. She was all that mattered.

She fell in the hot springs and stood stunned for a minute, the rain causing steam to roll off the hot water. Mustering up the strength, she pulled out of it, then got back to her feet, and walked. Her blood was leaving trails everywhere, and the rain washed it away as it landed.

"No." she leaned against the tree when she made it through the village. Bodies were scattered around, no restriction of age or sex saved them from death. I looked at the chaos and the destruction and felt horribly angry and revolted. I didn't know the dead could feel those things. I looked at her and knew she was feeling the same things, coupled with her rage. That rage turned the inner part of her iris's a shocking bright amethyst color I didn't recognize.

"He's gone." Her face twisted as the pain set in again, and I watched as my sister fell. Her back slid against the tree as her legs gave out, her suddenly only blue eyes staring in shock. "My son. My brother. He's gone. My Kin Jiro. My life."

"Sister, please," I reached forward and ran my hand along her arm but she didn't react. "Sister."

"I failed you." She choked out between the tears. I don't remember ever seeing her cry. "I let him kill you."

"No." I shook my head. She wasn't supposed to act this way. She was supposed to have something, anything, to hold on to. "Sister, he killed me because of who he is, not because of you."

"Kin," she looked up at the sky and the tears ran down her cheeks with the rain. "I will never allow myself to forget what I've caused. I will never let myself be forgiven of this pain. Your life was supposed to last long passed mine, little brother. I'm sorry that I was too weak to see what was there."

"Amon-Shinpi," I tried to yell, but it did not good.

"I'll avenge you." She set her jaw and I blinked, watching her stand. She could hardly breath anymore, she'd wasted so much energy walking just to find more death. "I will hunt down that animal with my last breath and let him die at my feet. I will char his body. Hiro will not be forgiven of this sin against you."

"You need to heal, you idiot." I threw myself against her like I used to do when I was smaller, to get her to stop and listen. We were nearly the same height now, and it wasn't as easy, but I felt her body give. She stopped, startled.

_"Sister! You need rest." A four year Kin grabbed onto her pants and held on for his life. "I won't let you leave!"_

_ "Kin." She warned._

_ "No." he looked up at her with those familiar stubborn blue eyes and she sighed. _

_ "Fine. I'll stay a few extra days."_

"Kin." She reached up to where my head would've been and I felt her hand against the back of my hair. Her tears were real against my cheek as she cried. I was nearly a hundred, and still small and growing, but she was just as tiny as she'd ever been. She bit her lip and I almost told her not to give in to such a bad habit. "Good bye."

It felt like someone else was watching her walk away, back through the trees. She wiped at her eyes, smearing blood across her face, though between the rain and the hot springs, most of it had come off. I felt her heart when I had touched her, and it felt irreparable. There were so many jagged shards now, and her soul was just as damaged. Hiro had done worse than rob her, he'd ruined her. I couldn't bare it.

"Sister, whenever I can, I will always be there for you." Even though she couldn't hear me, I vowed it. "Your life won't be wasted seeking revenge. You are too strong, too talented for that. You can walk into a riot and calm them with your voice. Even if it takes my whole eternity, I will be at your side and make sure you end up on a path that heals you."

She stopped at the border of the trees leading away from out lands, and turned to look back like she'd heard me. But her body was still tense, her rage brewing fresh with the pain of her great loss. She was aimed for the spot of her defeat, my death.

"Just like you'd have done for me." I watched her go and felt the pain for her sting my spirit. It was uncomfortable, being dead. Something tugged at me, and I felt myself pulled away from place where I'd spent my whole life. The place I'd ruled for one short fight. The place my parents were buried and my sisters had left. I realized, as I fell backwards through space, that I was this was the end of the Takani Territory, as she scooped her mask up to her side. She was collecting, diligently, the scraps of my clothes and few strands of my hair that littered the ground where I had been killed.

She was fading and my heart called out to make this movement stop, to let me wander the earth by her side like it was supposed to me. To save her, even a little bit, even if it took all my spirit's existence. But I couldn't fight the pull around me and fell back into it with anger.

I would not let her live her life in this ruined state. I was her brother, her son. She was my hero.

We were the last Takanis, and I vowed to not let anything as little as death come between us.

Hiei watched as the dark haired onna made a fool of herself, toying with her human pupil. He looked up at the approaching storm as it hovered darkly on the edge of the sky, and then back over to her from his post against the shrine. Kuwabara was shoved into the dirt as she pounced on him from behind, scolding him on his awful defenses.

It was frightening that this was proof he'd made improvement, the fire demon thought to himself, and turned at the sound of Yukina's sweet voice calling them into the shrine to avoid the weather. It was supposed to be a severe storm. Iruni let Kuwabara run to the call of his love, and turned her wide blue eyes to the waiting apparition.

"We have some time," she let her voice beckon him off the side of the building. He walked until he was close enough to touch her, but refrained. There was a shining glint in her eyes that meant she had planned some sort of mischief.

"Onna," he warned quietly. "You know I don't like the rain."

"Just a quick match then." She stepped through the gap he'd left between them, making him smirk as her scent washed over him. Her voice was lowered, "Just me and you, and a quick match before we have to run to my house."

"Hn." He nodded once, and then they were lunging at each other. The black clouds gathered above them despite her assurances that he wouldn't get wet. A loud crack of thunder announced the birth a bright lightning bolt that made her tense and look away at the wrong time. A bandaged fist sent her reeling to ground.

They paused and he watched as something dark passed over her features as she stared at the black sky. Her playfulness gone like the quick flash of bright light. She rose and brushed herself off, and he understood without an explanation.

"Shinpi-"

"I know, I know. He's dead." She glanced at the fire demon and then offered him a wry smile. He knew it was a cover, but he let it slide. "Let's go home."

"That shack is hardly a _home_."

"It's the closest thing I can get to one, right now." She looked up again and he realized it wasn't the usual slight fear in her eyes, but anger, and pain. This storm reminded her of something worse than her ex-lover, but he didn't dare ask her what. She wouldn't have told him anyways.

They ran to her house and he was inside before the rain started to fall, but she wasn't. She was stuck outside the door as it began, and then the wind roared around her and lightening struck and she was suddenly soaked as the heaven's split open above her. Hiei watched from the frame of the front door with cautious eyes as she stared up into the clouds.

"I'll never forget." He heard the words, but didn't understand them as she walked towards him. As she passed over the threshold though, her cold wet lips pressed to his lightly, and she continued towards the shower allowing him to close the door, wondering what he was missing, as he glanced up at the unforgiving sky.


End file.
